NATUEAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



of a cat. The spines take firm 

 hold on the Avails of oviduct, and 

 if forcibly withdrawn would cause 

 lacerations, or might result in the 

 hemipenis being torn off at its 

 base. So spiny are these organs 

 that the snakes are said to project 

 them and use them as defensive 

 weapons. This would seem high- 

 ly improbable, but Prof. Cope 

 tells us of two that were caught by 

 a cat, and projected their organs 

 and fought their captor with them. 

 It is certain, however, that the 

 snakes are very careful not to pre- 

 sent these organs evaginated far 

 enough to expose the delicate 

 structures near the apex. 



I have heard boys assert that 

 these snakes possessed rudimen- 

 tary legs, and that they would pro- 

 trude them on being thrown upon 

 a fire. We may find a probable 

 explanation of this supposed phe- 

 nomenon in Prof. Cope's statement 

 that the snakes may be compelled 

 to project their hemipenis by 

 holding them before a fire, though 

 the Professor adds that he has not 

 seen this himself. 



The breeding habits of this 

 snake are not fully understood 

 though something is known of 

 them. There is considerable va- 

 riation in the dates on which they 

 have been seen pairing. Prof. U. 

 O. Cox reports May, Mr. H. A. 

 Townsley April 17th, Prof: W. S. 

 Blatchley April 19th, Mr. E. R. 

 Quick late in June, and I have ob- 

 served them about the middle of 

 April. 



The period of gestation and the 

 length of time required for the 

 eggs to hatch are not known. Dr. 

 C. C. Abbot says that he has fre- 

 quently found their eggs, in con- 

 siderable numbers, a few inches 

 below the surface of the ground in 

 May. I have observed the newly 

 hatched young about September 

 first, and it is certain that they are 

 usually hatched rather late in the 

 season. It is not probable that 

 the eggs remain in the ground from 

 May until September before hatch- 

 ing, but it is quite possible that 

 some of the late pairing individuals 

 may bear their eggs over the win- 

 ter and lay them in the spring. 



It is certain that these serpents 

 are very prolific, though observers 

 vary greatly in their accounts of 

 the numbers of the eggs and young. 

 Dr- Gerard Troost dissected a 

 specimen and found in her 25 eggs. 

 Dr. O. P. Hoy tells of a nest con- 

 taining 27 eggs that was brought 

 to the National Museum Aug. 31st. 

 The female was near the nest when 

 it was taken and tried to defend it. 



These eggs hatched Sept. 7th and 

 8th. Prof. F. W. Cragin, in 

 American Naturalist, says that he 

 found 22 eggs of this snake that 

 had been plowed up in a sandy 

 field along Long Island Sound. I 

 have at different times found three 

 nests, all buried a few inches deep 

 in sandy ground, and containing 

 between twenty and thirty eggs 

 each. It may be assumed tnat the 

 usual number of young ranges be- 

 tween twenty and thirty. 



Many writers, however, credit 

 this species with a fecundity that 

 is simply marvelous. One con- 

 tributor to the American Natural- 

 ist tells of over one hundred young 

 snakes issuing from a wound in the 

 side of a female Heterodon. An- 

 other, Dr. J. Schneck, reports 

 eighty-seven young taken in the 

 same way. Still another, Dr. 

 Bumpus, states that a .female in 

 the National Museum brought 

 forth one hundred and eleven 

 young. It is but just to these 

 writers, however, to state that 

 they admit that they did not see 

 the large numbers themselves, but 

 got their information from others 

 who did. 



The eggs are oval or elliptical in 

 shape, covered with a thick, tough, 

 yellowish white membrane, con- 

 taining little or no calcareous de- 

 posit. Besides this outer coat 

 there is a lining of thin delicate 

 membrane. They measure from 

 an inch and a quarter to an inch 

 and a half in length, and about 

 seven-eighths of an inch in shorter 

 diameter. 



As some insects have a special 

 pair of mandibles used for no 

 other purpose but to cut their way 

 out of their cocoons, and young 

 chickens have beaks hardened at 

 the tip for breaking open the shell, 

 so the unhatched Heterodon has an 

 egg tooth with which he opens the 

 leathery covering which encloses 

 him. This tooth projects forward, 

 is turned slightly upward, and is 

 squared off at the tip. It has a 

 ligamentous attachment by which 

 it may be raised a little but not de- 

 pressed. The tooth is pressed 

 against the egg covering, and being 

 pushed forward makes an opening, 

 not tearing the membrane but cut- 

 ting it, leaving the edges of the 

 aperture perfectly smooth. The 

 egg tooth, having served its pur- 

 pose becomes loose and drops out 

 within twenty-four hours. 



Strange to say almost the first 

 thing the young snake does on is- 

 suing from the egg is to shed its 

 skin, rubbing its head against any 

 convenient object until the exfol- 



iated epithelium becomes loosened 

 about the lips, and then squirming 

 about among sticks and clods un- 

 til it is entirely drawn off. 



Even the very young display all 

 the characteristics of the adults, 

 flattening and raising their heads, 

 hissing threateningly and attempt- 

 ing to strike. Some of them will 

 also appear to feign death, though 

 the young, like the adults possess 

 this trait, or disease, in a varying 

 degree. Prof. O. P. Hoy experi- 

 mented with 15 young- and "suc- 

 ceeded in getting only two or three 

 to go through with this perform- 

 ance, but these did it to perfection. 

 The others of the young would 

 not act in this way, however much 

 they were teased." 



Dr. G. Brown Goode says that 

 it is a matter of common belief 

 that the young snakes go to their 

 mother for protection, and that 

 she affords them a hiding place in 

 her stomach. My observations, 

 however, lead me to believe that 

 the young snake finds a hiding 

 place in its mother's stomach only 

 when she is pressed for food. I 

 have never seen these snakes pay 

 any attention to their young when 

 other food was obtainable, but I 

 am certain that they will eat their 

 own species when no other food is 

 to be had. 



They are given to burrowing in 

 search of food, and can turn up 

 loose ground with their enlarged 

 trihedral rostrals almost as effec- 

 tively as a rooting pig. Mr. H. 

 A. Townsley kept a number of 

 them in captivity, and tried in vain 

 to raise a sod in his terrarium, but 

 the snakes killed the grass by per- 

 sistently rooting it up. They were 

 voracious, and he has seen three 

 of them holding on to the same 

 toad and engaged in vigorous pull- 

 ing. Although their usual habitat 

 is dry sandy ground, Mr. Towns- 

 ley's snakes appeared to enjoy an 

 occasional bath, and they would 

 even crawd under a stream of wat- 

 er when he was filling their tub, or 

 sprinkling the grass in his terra- 

 rium. I can find no account of 

 their voluntarily entering the water 

 when at liberty, but when I placed 

 two of them on a sandbank in a 

 creek they promptly took to the 

 water, inflating their lungs to an 

 incredible extent, and swimming 

 with very awkward motions. 



The Heterodon is an interesting 

 subject to study, but as its food 

 consists mainly of insect eating 

 toads and frogs it can scarcely be 

 regarded as a friend of man. 



Angus Gaines, 

 Vincennes, Indiana. 



